I got a call from Bhavik, I look after his equity portfolio and finance planning.
After 6 months of investing in the equity market, He wished to infuse more money.
So, He called me to discuss the same.
He looked quite excited to invest more money in the stock market.
And soon I got the reason for his excitement.
He had gained 50% returns on his investment in the last 6 months!!
Returns were good, but these returns were not surprising to me, after all Indian equity market is witnessing a bull run.
A surprising thing for me was how I successfully transformed someone into a well-disciplined equity investor.
Just 6 months back the same person used to say he could not save any money because of high expenses.
From there to now, He has a good amount of investment in equity with 50% returns on it.
He is happy with this lump sum backup that he generated in these last 6 months, which could never happen in the last 10 years.
It was not the same as just 6 months ago.
Background story
Bhavik is a successful freelancing Engineer.
Started his freelancing journey with 15,000 rupees per month in 2014 to now earning an average of 3 lakh rupees a month.
Just last year I had my first interaction with him.
So, What was the problem
Bhavik often used to say during the last year that when he was earning 25 thousand rupees a month, he could save at least 5 thousand per month.
But today, even with earnings in lakhs, neither he can manage to do savings nor he has any investment.
It looked quite strange.
But after knowing the reasons behind it, it looked quite obvious.
To simplify it, I have listed down some reasons behind it.
- With increasing income, the lifestyle of family members changed drastically
- Neither he nor any family members kept an eye on daily expenses, which resulted in expenses almost near to his income.
- In the name of finance planning, he often became a victim of finance products mis-selling from banks. He thought he had insured his life and savings for the future. But all the products were irrelevant to his needs.
- He took advice from his so-called expert friends and invested in the stock market but always ended up losing money in stocks.
Because of this, he perceived that the stock market is mere gambling and nothing more than that.
Still, life was good because he was earning well and his income was growing as well.
But, All days are not the same
Last year, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he got into big trouble.
His 2 family members had to be admitted to the hospital.
This incident incurred a high medical cost.
But he did not have any lump sum savings.
Medical cost was not that big, even his single payment was enough to pay that medical fee.
But, due to the lockdown, all his payments were on halt.
Despite a big income, he had no option but to borrow from his friends and relatives.
Adding to this, when he called his bank RM about his health insurance, he found out he did not have any such insurance.
He had invested in a retirement product.
He shouted at them but it didn’t help him.
Because of this incident, he realized the importance of savings.
He thought about changing this thing.
So he started saving money in his bank account and put some money in FD.
But still, it didn’t help him much.
Because saving money was a good step but it was not enough to solve his whole problem.
His core problems were still unattended and unsolved.
One of the major pain points was the lack of a proper investment advisor.
In my years of experience, I have seen that the majority of products sold in banks are mis-selling.
One should consult certified finance planners and designated equity experts for the same.
His other pain point was uncontrolled expenses.
His family spends money without any kind of planning.
While the sole earner is Bhavik only.
Apart from that, a major challenge that kept him away from building wealth was his bitter experience with the stock market in the past.
He was reluctant to invest more money in the stock market because whenever he invested in the stock market, he always ended up losing money.
Albeit his so-called equity expert friends were responsible for that and not the stock market.
A huge change is required from here
The positive thing about Bhavik is that he always wishes to change himself, he never gets satisfied with his present condition.
Just 8 months back we happened to meet again, after a long time.
And he told me about all the financial issues he was facing.
From his story, I concluded that he is required to change his financial habits and then he is good to go.
But the only question remained, did he wish to change his financial habits?
So, I asked him, you keep records of your business transactions, why don’t you keep records of your daily expenses at home?
He agreed to do the same
Another thing I told him, call all the banks where you have accounts and note down all the financial products he has purchased knowingly or unknowingly.
We will discuss them later.
He agreed to do that as well.
I said we would meet next week, meanwhile, complete these things.
Next week, he looked very much satisfied.
He said he found almost half of the expenses were useless.
In financial products, he had insurance products combined with savings which doesn’t serve the purpose of either insurance or investment.
Now, we had problems in hand, so I told him,
You have to make some crucial decisions to be financially healthy
The first thing that only you can do, is discuss these expenses with your family and control it
Second, close all these insurance products and get a refund if you can get any.
Third, you need a different approach to the equity market.
Stop looking at it as you are buying stocks and start looking at it as you are investing in good business.
You have 2 options from here, bring these changes in your life to bring financial freedom or live as you lived before.
You require basic education about the equity market before you invest in it. If you are interested, we will have some sessions on it.
Results
He took all these things positively. And cut his monthly expenses significantly.
He even closed all his existing insurance investments which were useless.
It helped him save a significant amount every month that he could invest.
I taught him about how the equity market works in easy language with some examples of real life.
He clearly understood how investing in good businesses creates amazing wealth.
He concluded that he invests in only those businesses that he can understand.
So in January 2021, he started investing his savings in the equity market.
Of Course, I helped him in picking stocks.
Conclusion
Bhavik is no longer a person who does not have a contingency fund.
He has enough life and health insurance for his family now.
His equity portfolio gained 50% returns on his investment so far and still a long way to go.
He stopped buying any financial products blindly.
Now he feels he has more financial freedom and still has a long way to go to build wealth.
So, what do you think about it, What are you starting your journey towards financial freedom? Let me know in the comment section.
